INHALE is a cultural platform where artists are presented, where great projects are given credit and readers find inspiration.
Think about Inhale as if it were a map: we can help you discover which are the must-see events all over the world, what is happening now in the artistic and cultural world as well as guide you through the latest designers’ products. Inhale interconnects domains that you are interested in, so that you will know all the events, places, galleries, studios that are a must-see.
We have a 360 degree overview on art and culture and a passion to share.

'Biography' presents a wide selection of works from Elmgreen & Dragset's complex universe, including sculpture, performance and interactive installations. Works from the late 1990s onwards will be shown together with recent projects, ...

Kate MccGwire is an artist who works with organic materials, especially feathers. She is interested in the way beauty and brutality mix in works of art. MccGwire plays with the expectancy of the audience: the feathers transgress their initial state, turning into something that has its own language and energy.

Your work is unsettling, almost surreal and the audience is instantly immersed into this universe. We find that your works are powerful and question the notion of beauty, since feathers are both plain beautiful as well as enchanting. Feathers are now your “trademark”. How was your art looked at in the beginning and how was it received on the art scene?

Before I started working with feathers I was also interested in bone, hair and other natural materials. My installation, Brood, which was made from 20,000 chicken wishbones, was bought by Charles Saatchi during my degree show. It was the work that really launched my career and confirmed my interest in beauty and brutality, the binary forces that exist within nature.

It’s impressive to think that for your art no animals are harmed when there are so many artworks involving animals that question the limits between life and death. Of course, there is probably a lot of work to gather the feathers, I know you always mention that there are some people who have birds and send feathers to you. How was it in the first place when you wanted to convince them about your intentions?

To convince someone to help you it’s very important to start a personal dialogue. I started by writing letters, sending sketches and visiting potential feather donors. The contemporary art scene is a very different world to the pigeon racing association, so it took some explaining, and some still thought I was completely bonkers, but many were happy to help. It’s been almost 8 years since I wrote my first letter and I’m still in touch with many of them now.

You said that you were thinking of making an installation with all the letters you received from these people. We imagine that they must be something one would find interesting to read! Can you give us one example that amazed you the most?

All the letters have been special and I feel very privileged that over the years people have shared such personal stories with me; one pigeon fancier used to send me lovely cards from him and his wife, always with a note about what they’d been up to and how the birds were doing and if they’d won any races. One day I got a letter, which said that his wife was ill but that the birds were fine… the next letter just had his signature on the end and she had passed away… the next, how he missed her and the final one recently sent saying that he was now too elderly to look after his birds and he was going to pass them on to a friend who had agreed to continue to send me feathers.

Also, how is it to work with a material that cannot be bought from a store and that depends on other people and on nature?

It certainly makes collecting more difficult but it means that I have to think inventively – I have to get people engaged in my work and I in turn need to understand theirs. I now have attended quite a few pigeon releases (it’s an amazing sight seeing 10,000 birds released simultaneously) and have begun to understand the cycle and know that pigeons mainly moult in April and October so I write to the pigeon racers during those months. It’s a cycle of regeneration and persuasion.

Smother, 2013 Photo: JP Bland courtesy of Kate MccGwire

Your works look as if they are alive, as if they are living animal creatures, and the sinuous forms seem to have no end and no beginning. Some are fluid-like. I mention here Evacuate, where feathers come out of a stove. There is also Sluice, where feathers come from a pipe, as if it were water. This shows how versatile this material is. What is it like to work with a material that has such a powerful background and when did you discover its potential?

My studio is a Dutch Barge on the River Thames, so I’m totally aware of the seasons, nature and temperament of the river, and that really feeds into what I make. I started by collecting the feathers on the bank near my boat, after a while I had enough to start playing with them, layering, experimenting. Like the river itself, natural materials have a sort of siren-like beauty, and I saw the possibility in using the medium to create something powerful.

Sluicephoto designcanteen.blogspot.com

It’s obvious that you are influenced by nature and you mention that you moved your studio on the Thames. How does it inspire you and what has changed since you’ve moved?

Certainly the powerful force and flow of the river makes a constant impression on my thought processes. I’m interested in the exquisite patterning in the water, which appears momentarily and then is gone. Nature is all around the studio, we see the lifecycle of the river birds, the laying of eggs, the hatching of ducklings and the birds of prey who eat the ducklings, it’s a cycle of life, a fascinating but brutal world.

Your works conquer the exhibition space and they instantly change the environment. How do you relate to space?

I love the challenge of making within different architectural spaces, and certainly my previous training in design is useful in being able to plan and envisage the work. I have a good feeling for space, and first let the building guide the work, so that eventually the work will impose upon the space.

There is something architectural about your work, and it can be seen in the way you construct your works and in the way you make sketches. Where does this trait come from?

I used to work as an architectural visualizer so I’m very happy to work on both a 2D and 3D scale. Sketches are a fantastic tool for trying new things and being able to show people what I am trying to achieve. The freedom of drawing is a great compliment to the permanence of sculpture.

Evacuate, 1 Photo: Jonty Wilde

photo brontops.blogspot.com

You work with feathers coming from pheasants, chickens, turkeys, mallard, goose, peacock, woodcock, but you constantly talk about pigeons and crows. Why are you specifically interested in these two birds?

They are birds with a particularly strong cultural identity. The crow can be seen as a bad omen, while the pigeon is called ‘a rat with wings’. It’s these associations that I enjoy exploring and drawing attention to in my work.

I know you don’t like to tell too much about the work process, which makes it even more interesting. But do you have an assistant or you work all by yourself? And why?

I like a little mystery around it; all art is an illusion after all. I have assistants to facilitate what I do: to prepare, sort and trim the feathers, and then I apply them on the form; I wouldn’t be able to achieve the scale of my work without them. It’s a close relationship and one of mutual respect and trust, I teach them my method and they in turn don’t use it in their own work.

Orchisphoto allvisualarts.org

Corvid, 2011Photo: Tessa Angus

Sepal Speculum, 2012Photo: Ian Stuart courtesy of All Visual Arts

Do you think this is a period when you are interested in feathers or did you find the perfect medium for you?

I am drawn towards natural materials because they have their own language. We have a relationship with feathers, bones and hair, which is universal yet carries personal resonance. I am sure I will use other materials over the course of my career but I haven’t exhausted all I want to do with feathers yet…

How do you feel about inspiring other artists? And here I must mention Helmut Lang, who created a fashion collection being inspired by your works.

It’s always a compliment to inspire other artists and the link between my work and fashion is something I’ve not yet explored personally. However I’m leaning towards the possibility of doing a full-scale collaboration with a designer one-day.

Helmut Langphoto blog.katemccgwire.com

Your works are a sort of surrealist fairy-tale. Is there an area where you inspire from or is there something in your background that inspires you?

For me it’s about being intrigued by the body; by playing with what is known and making it strange. It’s a amalgamation of forms; beast, bird, hunter and prey.

It’s a busy year for you since you’ll be present in a lot of exhibitions. Tell us about them.

I have got a very busy year ahead; Birds of Paradise (including my largest installation to date) has just opened at MoMu, Antwerp until 24th of August. My solo show Lure at The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge will open on March 29th, and I also have works in group exhibitions in Art and Alchemy, Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf 5th April -10th August 2014 and The Wonder of Birds at Norwich Castle Museum opening 24th of May 14th of September and then a solo presentation at Musee de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris from November 2014 until January 2015.

Kate MccGwire in her studiophoto fadwebsite.com

BIRDS OF PARADISE
MoMu, Antwerp
20th March – 24th August 2014

SOLO SHOW
The Beaney, House of Art & Knowledge, Canterbury
29th March – 27th April 2014

Jonah Bokaer: The Combination of Visual Arts and Dance Is the Focus of My Entire Creative Output

Q

You were the youngest dancer hired at Merce Cunningham Company. Which are the first memories of this experience? How was it like to work there?

A

I would like to share an unusual perspective on this. Normally, I do not answer or consider questions about Merce Cunningham, as this has very little to do at all with the work I create: but upon deep reflection, I'd like to share that he and I had in something in common. We shared a quite total, uncompromising devotion to choreography.

When we look at your art, we realize that there is a constant through your work and that is energy. Where does that come from?

A

I hope and I think that the energy comes directly from me. With every collection extremely excited to do new experiments, tell a new story, make a new statement and to present interesting collections I can be proud of.
And good energy is part of that creation, showing and presentation to my clients.

Li Hongbo: There is a Chinese saying, life is as fragile as paper, which has left a deep impact on me

Q

You have managed to question the realism of sculptures through the flexibility of the paper. What do you see as the strengths of your chosen material, visually and conceptually?

A

At the beginning, I discovered the flexible nature of paper through Chinese paper toys and lanterns. I used this principle to make a gun. A gun is solid, used for killing, but I turned it into a tool for play, or decoration. In this way, it lost both the form of a gun and the culture inherent to the gun. It became a game.

rAndom international: We are interested in the reversal of the traditional roles of viewer and viewed

Q

What is interesting about your practice is the fact that this cold medium, which is media, becomes so warm and familiar. How do you get to do that?

A

For us, a material quality is inherent to a lot of the processes and ‘media’ that we use. It’s about focussing on that quality in everything we do; because it’s that quality which allows one to develop an emotional relationship with a space or an object.The concept is the crucial part and with our work that concept is often completed by the people and their physical participation.

AES+F: "Fear and anxiety about the future – a characteristic of our time."

Q

We know that 2007 was an important year for you, since your work became known on an international level. Let’s talk a little bit about two projects before that moment and I mention here Islamic Project, which was controversial. Through Islamic Project you stressed the fears western cultures have towards Islamists. Why are you interested in these issues?

A

Islamic Project (1996) is dedicated not only to Western fears of Islam, but rather to a visualization of mutual paranoia – both of the West and of Islamic fundamentalists. In 1996, we were interested in “globalization in reverse,” when not only the Internet and McDonald’s are moving to the east and south, but also when, for example, Islamic culture has an impact on the modern West.

10+1 Questions to be Handled with Care - Interview with Alexandra Pirici

Q

On a formal level, we may say that the public is deciding the dramaturgy of the performance by choosing a title/theme that they would like to see. I say formal, but maybe I should better use “conceptual”- implying that the public’s choice is a validation of the reenactment, re-creating the political situation that allows “iconic moments” to exist. How would you define the public’s role in the whole event- on a conceptual and physical level? (To what degree is the public’s participation a physical influence on the act of performing?)

A

The work was created for the context of Imagetanz festival in brut, Vienna and the curatorial frame had to do with “care” so I was also thinking of how to respond to the frame. The fact that the audience “orders” or chooses what they like to see has layered potentialities, for me. I do want them to feel “cared for” and entertained (I don’t shy away from the word, I find the concept of “counterculture” slightly dated) and I do want us, as performers, to make ourselves available for their requests.

A’Design Award is very prestigious and we‘re very excited to have won it. It is epitome for top design and innovation. Like any award of similar stature, A’Design is a platform that furthers great design by bringing the best at one lace and inspiring many others.

Your work is unsettling, almost surreal and the audience is instantly immersed into this universe. We find that your works are powerful and question the notion of beauty, since feathers are both plain beautiful as well as enchanting. Feathers are now your “trademark”. How was your art looked at in the beginning and how was it received on the art scene?

A

Before I started working with feathers I was also interested in bone, hair and other natural materials. My installation, Brood, which was made from 20,000 chicken wishbones, was bought by Charles Saatchi during my degree show. It was the work that really launched my career and confirmed my interest in beauty and brutality, the binary forces that exist within nature.

Jan Manski: "I’m Interested in Creating the Most Narcissistic of Worlds"

Q

We are curious to know, first of all, how you’ve imagined this project that has three parts: Possesia, Onania, Eugenica and why you specifically wanted it to be made of three parts. How are they linked, where does it start from and where are you taking it?

A

The project came gradually in time, it wasn’t pre-designed. The trilogy idea has emerged from years of process. Possesia started first, with initial ideas and sketches dating to 2007. It grew out of my obsessive collecting habits and interest in a specific period of Europe’s history, a period of innocence just before the First World War. For years I visited flea markets to collect curious antique objects and photographs that transported me to the time they had witnessed.

You said in an interview that some of your works are semi-autobiographical. Can you explain what about them is so and give us some examples?

A

They’re semi-autobiographical in that certain themes or motifs reflect what is happening to me at the time. For example, I draw more birds and plants in spring. I draw more skull and bones when things are coming to an end or dying. I draw guitars when I’ve been playing music. I draw wooden constructions when I’m building things.

Your works have a specific unity. They are easily recognizable. Do you think you’ve found your way of expression or do you think that you’re still searching?

A

That’s an interesting question… the visual language that I express through my works is not something I’ve been searching for. It’s something that came natural for me. Even expressing myself in different media the same visual language comes to the surface every time. The way I create reflects my imagination and how I see the world.

Saddo: "Art Is the Only Thing That Makes Me Feel Like I Have Some Kind of Purpose in Life"

Q

You said that the animals present in your works come from different mythologies and religions. Can you explain where they come from and why you are interested in these issues?

A

I’m fascinated by the animal and plant world, I love myths, fables, fantastic stories with characters that mix human and animal features, I love Walton Ford’s work, old naturalistic illustrations of plants and animals, the illustrations of Ernst Haeckel, etc. So you can see how all these personal tastes influence and shape my illustrations and paintings.

The application period for Spring 2015 Artist in Residence program is now open. 33OC seeks proposals from international professional artists interested in working within the Toffia environment for a one month period. 33OC Artist Residency program was developed to become a space & community where international artists can share places, experiences and sensibilities. The aim […]

Private studio retreats in a collaborative atmosphere for Spring 2015. Grin City Collective welcomes applications from artists of all disciplines at all stages of their career for residencies in rural Iowa, USA. Residents receive individual housing and studio space and may elect to participare in one of the following outreach programs: Social Practice Project: 1st Block […]

maumau writer-in-residence program the program aims to create an atmosphere for writers in which they can work isolated from everyday life while experiencing the inspiring nature of istanbul. please check the information document before you submit your application form to info@maumauworks.com with a topic “writer-in-residence program”. please specify the the residency you apply on the topic which residency […]

Applications are now being accepted for month long residencies at the Bellagio Center. Deadline: December 1, 2014 The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center’s mission is to promote innovation, creativity, and impact-oriented solutions to critical global problems. Residencies and conferences at the Center, located in northern Italy, support work in the Foundation’s key issue areas: Advance Health, […]

Public Recordings: 8 DAYS IV – A Gathering of Choreographers An intensive encounter open to Canadian contemporary choreographers. 8 DAYS is an intensive encounter open to Canadian contemporary choreographers. The gathering values curiosity, questioning and reflection on how we work in order to deepen choreographic practices. The ongoing 8 DAYS project addresses a need for […]

Body Becoming ANIMA CASA RURAL ARTIST RESIDENCY Thematic Residency “Body Becoming.” BODY BECOMING : The body figures as the most important place upon which many of our stories play out. From the Greeks who admired and celebrated the nude, to the Confucian Koreans who covered it eroticizing only small amounts of visible skin, the body […]

Countryside Residency for International Artists in Rome, Italy Best of both worlds in this residency in the countryside just 40-minutes by train from vibrant Rome! Get inspired by this artist residency in the countryside of Rome! The non-profit organization ‘c.r.e.t.a. rome’ offers an international self-funded residency program in the countryside of Rome, Italy. The Italian […]

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INHALE is a cultural platform where artists are presented, where great projects are given credit and readers find inspiration.
Think about Inhale as if it were a map: we can help you discover which are the must-see events all over the world, what is happening now in the artistic and cultural world as well as guide you through the latest designers’ products. Inhale interconnects domains that you are interested in, so that you will know all the events, places, galleries, studios that are a must-see.
We have a 360 degree overview on art and culture and a passion to share.